Russian military transports spotted with new markings near Sumy border

Huge transports of Russian military machinery are heading to the border with the Sumy region. Observers report cars and engineering equipment being transported by rail to the Chernihiv area. The combat equipment is marked with a new symbol, prompting experts to consider whether a renewed attempt to seize the northeastern regions of Ukraine is possible.

Andriy Demchenko, Ukraine's State Border Service spokesman, reported increased Russian activity in the border area on Tuesday. He warned that actions might extend the front line. The head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, stated that the Russian Federation plans to move towards the Kharkiv and Sumy directions.

"It’s beginning to feel like January and February of 2022 all over again, with a Russian Military Train recently spotted near the City of Yefremov in the Tula Region heading Southeast towards the Border with the Sumy Region of Northeastern Ukraine. The Military Equipment seen on the Train, which includes Bridging Equipment as well as Transport and Logistics Equipment, all have the New Tactical Marking seen recently during Russian Offensive Operations in the Kharkiv Region," reports OSINTdefender, an open-source platform for monitoring military conflicts in Europe and worldwide.

A social media post comments that the situation is starting to resemble January and February 2022, when Vladimir Putin's troops were preparing to invade their neighbor. Experts from OSINTdefender suggest this could be a new Russian operation in the north and northeast Ukraine.

The new tactical symbol now replaces the letter Z, which had been used by Putin's army. At the beginning of the aggression, this symbol appeared not only on tanks and guns but also in the windows of homes and offices in Russia, and even on the clothing of athletes representing Moscow.

However, the independent Ukrainian agency Unian reports that, according to expert Serhiy Hrabskiy, the enemy does not currently have sufficient resources for such an offensive. Therefore, these may be merely provocative actions.

There is currently no threat of a Russian attack on Sumy and Chernihiv, as the enemy does not have the resources for it, assesses military expert Serhiy Hrabskiy, a reserve colonel, a former employee of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and participant in peace operations in Kosovo and Iraq. The colonel commented on Ukraine's State Border Service reports in the program "Jedini Noviny."

We must understand that we do not have peaceful areas on the Russian Federation's border with Ukraine. It is a zone of continuous fighting, surveillance, and sabotage activities, constant shelling, missile strikes, and mortar attacks, notes the military expert. He added that it is undoubtedly about a "change of format" because the enemy does not have sufficient resources for an assault.

Hrabskiy also emphasized that intensifying military activities in this direction is, of course, possible. However, the "number and quality of troops concentrated there" does not threaten Sumy and Chernihiv.

"Not many tanks, armored personnel carriers, or self-propelled guns are visible." "Directly from the parade to war," specialists comment on social media.

Russians had already had successes in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions. They managed to enter these areas after the aggression on Ukraine in February 2022.

However, Ukrainian defenders managed to push the enemy back just a few weeks later. In April, the head of the Chernihiv region, Vyacheslav Chaus, conveyed that the Russians had already left the outskirts of Chernihiv, while Dmytro Zhyvytsky, head of the Sumy region, stated on state television that Russian troops no longer occupy any towns or villages in his area and have mostly withdrawn, abandoning much equipment.